Charter Cats Arrest - Wildcat / Jaguar Catamarans

[paulrack]

I have just seen this article in a Cape Town newspaper regarding two people being arrested from Chartercats. I know quite a few American buyers lost money when they went insolvent about two years ago. The police are asking for anyone who lost money with Chartercats to come forward. I have scanned in the newspaper article.

[Therapy]

There is an error in opening the file. The file has been damaged and could not be opened.

So says my Adobe.

[sabray]

no problem opening it for me

[paulrack]

I checked from another computer and it opened fine

[Therapy]

I guess I am due for a format and reinstall.

I have a few other glitches too.

[c-kow]

South Africa yacht brokers charged with fraud

link for those who don't want to download

[maxingout]

Having a cat built by a small company can be risky business as unethical behavior by a few principals in the company can steal the dreams of many people.

When we had our Privilege 39 catamaran built in France around 1992, the American dealer was having financial problems that could have cost us tons of money if we were unlucky. The American Dealer was nearly insolvent and was borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Jeantot Yachts was reticent to release our yacht from the factory because all of the money had not been paid on a previous yacht ordered by the American dealer. We had a lawyer do some legal maneuvers so that the yacht never passed into possession of the American dealer and it would not become an asset of the company to be haggled over in bankrupty proceedings. Very scary.

I learned my lesson. Always buy a yacht through an agent who has an escrow account that keeps everything on the up and up. The Privilege dealer eventually was taken over by a new owner and never had to declare bankrupty.

[harmony80]

Nicole Hough's parents, Eric and Kim Schoeman, sold many of these boats in the U.S. and eventually sold the company to their daughter and son-in-law; They are still in business and are building power cats and luxury real estate/marinas in So. Africa. In fact, the Jaguar36 is still being built and is sold by their Classic Cats company: Jaguar Catamaran For Sale 36 Foot Luxury Multihull Sailing Boat
Buyer beware.

[pharo]

For those interested I have attached the lastest article that has appeared in a South African Newspaper today.

If anyone cannot cannot open this article please let me know and i will repost

Anyone with further evidence can contact the Forensic Investigator Christo Snyman at csnyman@riskwise.co.za

[paulrack]

If you read the post it does not say they are innocent, it is what they contend in court. We will have to wait and see what the outcome of the legal process is. Personally I would not not buy a boat from any of them, including classic cats. Remember the standard warning, "buyer beware". With anything to do with that family I reckon it is "buyer beware squared"! There have just been too many historical disasters.

[pharo]

paulrack, i agree with you to a point, however it does confirm that the original liquidator gave them the green light under his investigation which was also held in court. It also confirms the state has not done an independent forensic report into Charter Cats which i presume means their case is largely based on evidence from Eric and Kim Schoeman. It also seems strange that the investigator has not taken a statement from the liquidator. Surely Charter Cats in liquidation was investigated by the liquidators legal team. Yes this is going to be a very interesting story to follow as i believe numerous things are going to come out in the near future.

[paulrack]

I agree, I just feel sorry for the poor guys buyng boats from the new company, I am sure they must be feeling very uncertain and exposed at the moment.

[GordMay]

From the South African Police Service (SAPS) website (October 19/ 09):
➥ Story Details

Evidently (I cannot confirm), bail conditions have been relaxed in R10m luxury yacht fraud case (December 8/09)
➥ Legalbrief - Bail conditions relaxed in R10m luxury yacht fraud case

[pharo]

Attached is an interesting article in a South African newspaper on this on-going story. Seems the authorities have withdrawn their case against the son-in-law and daughter of Eric and Kim Schoeman and rather focusing on the Schoemans themselves. It seems from other reports in the press in South Africa that Eric Schoeman was in fact the one behind making these allegations in the first place. It does seem rather sinister that you can make these accusations about you own daughter to hide their own shortfalls.

I believe this new business the Schoeman’s operate under is called “Classic Cats” and also builds the same Jaguar Catamaran as before.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, pharo.

Thanks for the IMPORTANT, informative, & interesting update!